Zoe's Coming Home for a Visit
by Emma R2
Summary: Hello...this is a long overdue Tag/"Up in the Air"  Warning...This is a strong T...though really not an M and I think I got positively schmoopy towards the end... Any reviews are greatly appreciated!


In case anyone's interested...here's links to the tunes in the story: Jo's .com/watch?v=SyKOs1j8ea0

Zane's .com/watch?v=Khkf4VzGDEU

**Zoe's Coming Home for a Visit…**

_Do you remember the first kiss?  
>Stars shooting across the sky<br>to come to such a place as this  
>you never left my mind<em>

"Shut-up, P.J. Harvey!" Josephine Lupo thought to herself as one of (now former) favorite songs came blasting across her iPod as she pulled up in front the loft at No.5 Lorentzian Lane. Despite the omen-like aspect of the song, she was NOT there to…

_All I need is you tonight…_

"Right! That's it!" She cut the engine and slapped the hapless iPod out of its dock. That was the _last thing_ she needed right now. She was not going to be distracted, dammit! Zoe was coming home. They needed to get their stories straight. She'd tried to talk to Zane all day but as soon as he heard Zoe's name, his smile had disappeared and he'd started avoiding her. Finally she'd cornered him in his office, only to have him shrug the whole thing off.

"Whatever you think is best Ms. Lupo," He gave her a polite nod and went to his project. It infuriated her. A crisis needed to be diffused and she needed his help. Just as she'd decided there was nothing immoral about using her pulse gun as incentive, Fargo burst in with a core processor crisis. Intellectually precocious but socially inept, Fargo only caught a faint hint of the furious undertones in the room.

"Sorry Jo, it's a bit of an emergency…you don't need Zane for anything urgent, do you?" Fargo asked as she gnashed her teeth in frustration. Zane looked up with an angry smile.

"No, you don't need me, do you, Jo-Jo? Unless things have changed in the past couple of weeks?" The room went silent as Jo tried to come up with a response other than body-slamming him into a wall. "No, I didn't think so…" Zane nodded to Fargo and they left. That was the last time she'd seen him all day and meanwhile, Zoe Carter was still planning to show up in Eureka tomorrow.

Eureka was a small town. People were already starting to talk. Jo had devised a few ideas on how to handle the situation, but she just wanted to be clear on what Zane wanted. Would they tell her together? Pretend nothing happened? Her fists clenched as she realized she didn't even know for sure that he wanted to stop his flirtation with the girl she considered her honorary "little sister."

Jo knew she had no right to demand anything from Zane. She hadn't made him any promises and he hadn't made any to her…other than their mutual vow to do show GD that they were the ideal candidates to go into Space. At first she'd been skeptical that their "study sessions" could change anything but Zane's fierce determination to show "the suits" just what they were missing, inspired her. She'd never seen him so passionate or driven. He was still Zane, of course – he'd pouted like a five year old when she'd confiscated his slice of Vincent's everything pizza, and he still made comments about her ass when they were working out, but he worked hard to meet the goals she set.

Zane, in his own way, was a tough taskmaster. He was determined to morph her tactical knowledge and flight skills into advanced Astrophysics. When she'd ignored some of the more basic equations and fudged her way through, he made her break each one down to its variables, supervising over her shoulder to ensure she did every step. When she'd gotten frustrated by the more difficult problems, he'd generously given her a few of his old tricks to work her way through them. They'd both chuckled as she'd repeated mnemonics that he'd devised as a ten-year old…mnemonics that included references to Spiderman and Cheeze-Wiz on crackers.

So what, if occasionally, she felt his hand linger when he touched her hair? So what if she felt a little flutter inside when she'd look up and catch him staring? Maybe there was a wistfulness for her lost love but that was another lifetime - so she hardened herself, and pushed those feelings down deep. She liked now. She felt as though she was finally getting to know the real Zane, and in her mind she could visualize the charming little boy with bright blue eyes who'd grown up with Quantum Physics and Particle Mechanics as his favorite playmates. Zane LOVED his vocation and Jo loved the deeper friendship that was developing between the two of them.

When Carter pulled her aside to give her a gentle warning, "Zoe's coming home for a visit on Monday. You two figure it out, yet?" She'd felt as though someone had scissor kicked her in the face. She'd forgotten there would be fall out. Luckily she was always good at strategies, so she came up with three possibilities but Zane hadn't given her a chance to roll any of them out.

"Well, tough luck for Mr. Donovan," she though to herself, "because Rangers never quit until the mission is accomplished." She readied herself to knock on the door, only to have it pop open as she raised her fist. Zane slouched into the doorway.

"Finally decided to come in Lupo? Good idea. You've been pacing around, talking to yourself for at least five minutes. Don't want to go no-fly because of a psych demerit, right?" Jo noticed he'd changed into a familiar black t-shirt and she gasped as she recognized the white Social Distortion logo. In the previous timeline he'd admitted to her that the t-shirt was a bad sign.

_"**It's kind of my uniform for destruction. If you see me wearing it, Jo – I'm about to do something…" Embarrassed, he'd chuckled a little. "If I'm wearing the t-shirt AND playing their tunes…I'd call the authorities right away." She'd jokingly threatened to hide the t-shirt and wipe all his music from the GD hard-drive and they'd both laughed it off.**_

She pushed past him and stalked into his living room. Zane already had the music on surround sound.

_And I'm already gone, _

_I've left a path of pure destruction;  
>I've got the Machine Gun Blues<em>

She grabbed his data pad from the table and handed it to him.

"Turn it off." He gave her a cranky glare.

"What, you don't like my music, Lupo?" He grabbed the data pad. " I think I have some chick music in here, Zoe sent me an MP3 mix." Jo felt every vein in her forehead go tight.

"ZANE!" He bit back a retort and clicked the music off. When he spoke again, she could hear tightly leashed anger.

"Fine. Silence. You got it. Now, let's get this over with because I've got work to do." He looked up and his eyes were icy cold. She realized he angry, angry enough to be reckless. Zane was in trouble mode.

"Give me the data pad " Jo held her hand out. Zane reeled back with a laugh.

"No. No way." He met her glare with one of his own. "Not in this lifetime, Lupo. " Jo caught her breath and mentally counted to ten. Zane could always push her buttons, but she needed to be calm.

"Zane - whatever you're about to do, isn't worth it. So why don't we sit down and talk about this?" She sat down on his sofa. His expression shuttered, turning carefully blank.

"Don't know what you're talking about - "

"Zane – " She nodded towards the speakers "Machine Gun Blues…and your uniform for destruction…you're about to do something stupid." He stopped in shock and then comprehension set in. He crouched in front of her, so close she could feel his breath on her face.

"That's cheating." She touched his arm, gently and felt the muscles coil and flex in response. He stood up abruptly. "Don't touch me. Not if you know what's good for you." She accepted his warning, even though she knew Zane would never hit a woman. Plus she knew she could take him down with one hand if absolutely necessary.

"What happened? What's wrong? " Jo used her most reasonable voice. "Did Fargo say something? Did they release the names of the Astraeus finalists?" He laughed again and adjusted a few images on the data pad.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Here – " He handed her the now empty screen. "You can go now." Jo bit her lip and set the pad aside. He obviously wasn't going to tell her what he'd really been up to. She pushed a little further.

"We're friends Zane, you can talk to me - "

If it was possible, his eyes went even colder. Jo steeled herself but he stepped back putting distance between them.

"Yeah, we're friends, we're _just friends_…which is what Zoe always wanted. She's got _nothing_ to worry about." Zane's smile had mean tinge to it and Jo felt as though he had slapped her.

"Right. Nothing to worry about." She nodded. He chose that moment to sit down beside her on the sofa. His voice took on an even more diabolical edge.

"Hey, now that we're all friends, maybe we can all go out one night? Sometime during this visit? I'm sure Zoe would love it." He hurled that one like a bullet and Jo couldn't hide a gasp of pain.

"Right." Jo heard her voice break over that one-syllabled word and she nodded again, and she was sure she could feel her heart tearing as as she headed for the door. She was nearly there when he caught her.

"But I'm not gonna lie, Jo-Jo. If she hears something and asks me about us, I'll tell her the truth. We're friends now but for six weeks we were lovers. It meant NOTHING - You were using me to relive the memory of your old time-line boyfriend and I let myself be used." She whirled around at that one, and ready to protest. "Don't get me wrong Jo-Jo, I LOVED being used. Maybe I got a little too caught up in being used, because when you came at me today to tell me Zoe was coming and you had all those excuses and stories prepared, well" He shrugged at that one, his eyes averted, a grim smile on his face. "Maybe that hurt a little bit. I can tell you that, right? Because we're friends -"

"No, I…I didn't mean – " She reached for him, and he stepped back.

"Like I said, Jo – not a good day to touch me." He looked at her then, eyes almost dilated to almost black and she could see it all…the hunger, the pain and the need. He was hurt. Deeply hurt - and she suddenly realized how it all seemed to him.

"I wasn't trying to – I was trying to make it easier –" Jo sputtered as she paced around the room. "I didn't want to hurt anyone." Zane watched her struggle for a minute and then he took pity on her.

"Don't worry Jo. Zoe won't be hurt - " He flopped onto the sofa with a ragged sigh, "- just pick the a plan, I'll say whatever you want." Jo could hear the weariness in his voice and she realized that tonight was a game-changer. Whatever choice she made, it would have an effect. Zane was tired and she screw it all, she was tired too.

He flinched as she sat down close, near enough to fell the waves of heat emanating from him. He was hurt and he was angry, and he really didn't want to her around. Jo knew that, but she also knew she couldn't leave him alone like tonight. His breath hitched as she reached out a hand and cautiously stroked the lightly furred warmth of his arm.

"Don't – " She cut off his hoarse protest with a hungry kiss. Jo was tired of denying herself. She poured all her want and denial into that kiss, hands stroking, lips seeking sensitive places that made him twitch and sigh. She wanted him. She needed him to want her too. He didn't want to give in – she could feel it in the punishing grip of his hands, the tightly coiled muscles. He was fighting for control. He held out for a moment, got a tight grip on her shoulders and held her still. "So what's this, Lupo? A mercy – " She cut him off with another kiss and climbed on top.

"Yeah. Mercy for me, so if we could –" She kissed her way down his throat, to his chest, until she felt his heart beat. His harsh chuckle turned into a groan as she kissed down further to the other place where she could feel him pulse. His hands tightened in her hair and he held her again. She looked up and saw the turmoil in his face. He doubted her. She didn't blame him, she'd doubt herself. She caught her breath and felt her face flush as she admitted the truth.

"Please Zane…I…I…need you." His eyes darkened almost to midnight and pulled her tightly to him. "Please." Jo melted into him, her body recognizing and welcoming its mate. Zane muttered to himself as he claimed her mouth with a ravening kiss, passion overtaking his caution. There was an unspoken promise in this coming together – she knew he'd sensed it too. His hands shook a little as he undressed her and he claimed her with a wild abandon that made her cry out and cling to him as he drove them both over the edge.

Afterwards, they laid together, bodies calmed and limbs entwined. Jo smiled to herself as he stroked her hair.

"So Zane – " Jo rested her chin on his chest as she gave him a meaningful glare. "Are you going to tell me what apocalyptic disaster you were planning?" Her question elicited a delighted grin, and a distinctly mischievous twinkle in the blue eyes.

"Well that depends…who's asking? The head of Security for GD… or my girlfriend?" He watched mercilessly as Jo waffled then gave-in.

"….Both." His laugh was as delighted as it was relieved.

"If they're both here, I can't give it all away…here's a hint for my Jo-Jo…_Astraeus Mission experimental Nav system_…I'll let you figure out the rest." He chuckled even harder as she punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Don't worry…mission not completed." Jo realized that they both had neatly dodged a bullet. If Zane had tampered with the project, there would've been no way to reclaim him. An immediate arrest warrant would've been issued and she would've had no choice but to hunt him. The thought unnerved her.

"Zane, I – I wasn't trying to pretend we didn't happen. I was going to tell Zoe…I just wanted to buy us a little time." Her eyes were suddenly serious as she realized how close they had come to losing it all. He gave her a wry smile.

"Okay Jo-Jo. "

"I'm serious, Zane. I'll tell her tomorrow." She vowed. "I'm picking her up from the airport we'll talk then." Zane nodded.

"Well, yeah. The sooner the better, I'd say." He gave her a bright grin as he waved at the large portrait windows facing them. "We forgot to shut the shades."

"What?" Jo hopped up, just in time to see Vincent slam into Zane's mailbox as he scurried past, his hand covering his eyes. Zane chuckled again.

"Yep. The sooner the better."

The end


End file.
